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WOOD RIVER - Wood River Senior Olympian Mike Young has proven age doesn’t matter in terms of athletics. In fact, with age, Young seems to get better.
Young, 56, received 36 top three medals and two Outstanding Male Athlete honors at meets. He competed in 11 indoor and outdoor senior meets this season.
At the USATF National Championships in October, Young was third place in the long jump and a member of the national championship 55-59 4 x 100 relay team.
Young currently holds Top 10 and Top 25 marks in the world for this season.
“I want to thank all my sponsors that help support me and make it possible for me to compete on a national and world level,” he said. “It is so thrilling and I am so honored to compete against the best Master Athletes from all over the USA and world.”
Young competed in the St Louis Senior Olympics Track and Field events over the Memorial Holiday weekend. He captured 10 more top three medals over the two days of events. The senior athlete competed at Principia High School in Town & Country, Mo., for this year’s St. Louis Senior Olympics.
“This was an excellent location to host the Track & Field completion for some of the best athletes from St Louis and surrounding areas,” he said. “The weather was extremely hot and humid with temperatures in the mid-90’s and heat indexes in the high 90's. Athletes battled the elements and produced some great results during the two days of events. There were men and women from 50 years old up to 93 years old that challenged the weather and other competitors for the top honors. Over 1,100 athletes competed over the Memorial Weekend of events.”
Young at age 56 years old competed in the 55-59 men's division in his competitions. Young has been expanding his skills into other events. The senior Olympian competed in the decathlon when he was younger and has been working to develop his skills in the events required to compete in the decathlon or pentathlon.
“Some of the best senior athletes from the Midwest were here this weekend,” he said of the Principia competition. “This meet was a qualifying meet for next year’s National Senior Olympic. Finishing in the top three qualifies you for the National Senior Olympics in 2019.”
Young took top three medals in all of his events. He earned a first-place gold medal in 50 meters, 100 meters, 200 meters, long jump, triple jump and standing long jump.
He had a second-place silver medal in the 400 meters, third-place bronze medal in the high jump, 6kg shot put and 700-gram javelin. Young said that competing in a meet with this many events requires a lot of planning and strategy to get through them all.
“Sometimes you have events going on at the same time and you have to go back and forth to get through them all,” he said. “That can be a difficult challenge.”
2018 Huntsman World Senior Games
Young said the 2018 Huntsman World Senior Games was difficult for him because of an injury, but he was able to battle through some severe pain.
The Huntsman World Senior Games held in St. George, Utah, and attracts the top athletes from around the world, Young said.
"Over 10,000 athletes from 48 different countries converged on Utah to compete again the very best senior athlete's age 50 and up," he said. "Track and Field is a very popular sport for these senior - master competitors. The Track and Field competition was held October 15th 16th & 17th with different events each day.
"This was a difficult meet for me as I am dealing with a neck injury that I received while playing in our recent East Alton-Wood River-Roxana Alumni Football game, which I would do it all over again if given the opportunity. I did not realize how many different parts of our body is effected with a neck injury. Quick - jarring motion is very painful. My movement and range of motion were also very limited. Even my breathing and swallowing was effected. Daily treatments helped to reduce the pain but at times it was almost unbearable."
Young scratched from the 400 meters, the high jump and running long jump because of the injury.
"I was able to compete in the 50m, 100m, 200m, standing long jump, triple jump and 4x100 relay," he said. "In my sprinting events there were three heats to determine the finalist. The end results were not what I had originally hoped for but with my neck injury I did well. Lots of prayer came daily to help me get through it all. The eXplosion Track Team I compete with did extremely well bringing home plenty of hardware from this competition."
Young's final world results were:
4x100 meter relay team Gold Medal
Huntsman World Senior Games
World Champions
4th place in the 50-meter finals
(1/10 of a second away from 3rd)
4th place in the Standing Long Jump
(1 centimeter out of 3rd place)
4th place in the Triple Jump ....
Note: He made only two jumps and could not finish the last two jumps - too painful
7th in 100-meter finals
9th in the 200 finals.
"This was my last meet of the season," Young said. "Hopefully I can heal up completely during this downtime. USA Track Indoor season starts in January 2019.
"Overall I had a fantastic year. I brought home more medals and I received two different Outstanding Male Athlete of the Meet Awards. Every year I am getting better and faster."
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